


A Blast from the Past

by Badi_otaku



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Language, Reader-Insert, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-10-02 16:56:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10222916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Badi_otaku/pseuds/Badi_otaku
Summary: You didn’t know what to expect when you entered that factory, but you sure didn’t expect running into him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work on The Walking Dead, I’m so excited! This story takes place around the time of season 6 and 7. Hope you enjoy!

“Come on, Baby, we gotta keep going.” You said quietly, looking down at your eight year old sister, tightening your grip around her hand and gently tugging, urging her to follow you. You were walking around a small town, scavenging for food and ammo. You started in the morning and had already searched three buildings, only managing to find a few damaged cans and three shotgun cartridges.

This was a daily task for you since you lost your small camp, about a month ago. You settled with a few people and you managed to survive for some time before a small herd attacked your group. So now you roamed the nearby towns to find food and shelter with your little sister, living from day to day. That wasn’t new for you.

“(Y/N), my feet hurt…” She whined quite loudly. You immediately stopped, putting a finger on your lips, gesturing her to keep quiet. She looked down apologetically. You kept on walking despite you sister’s complaints. You had to find a safe place to stay at least for a few hours so that she could rest.

You wished you could find a place where you could stay for more than a few days at a time. You wished you could keep you sister safe. You wished she wouldn’t have to live this way, wandering through cities for entire days, constantly fearing the walking corpses that could show up at every turn. But this was your life, you didn’t have a choice, so you always did your best to keep her fed, hydrated and as safe as you could.

Still deep in thought, you didn’t see the empty can lying on the ground before you. You took another step forward, your leather boot hitting the metal object, sending it a few feet away with a loud bang that reverberated against the facades of the buildings. You stopped dead, looking around you.

Everything went silent for a second, before the low growl of walkers reached you ears. You looked over your shoulder, spotting a herd slowly making its way to you from across the street. You counted ten walkers, maybe more.

“Shit…” You muttered under your breath before walking straight ahead again with quick strides. “Come on.” You said to your sister who started walking faster to keep up with your pace. She looked at you with wide eyes as you kept glancing over your shoulder, observing the herd.

Too busy checking behind you, you didn’t see the other herd coming from an alley, between two buildings. You stopped again when you spotted them, immediately turning left to avoid the dozen of walkers. You saw an empty street and ran towards it. Again, a few walkers showed up from inside a building. But you could take care of them while your sister fled.

You pulled your knife from your belt and let go of your sister’s hand. She started crying but you didn’t have time to deal with her fear. You gestured her to make her way down the empty street. “Run.” You said, she moved immediately, running away from you as you ordered, looking back at you briefly.

You faced a walker and stabbed it in the head. You heart pounded in your chest, pumping adrenaline-filled blood through your veins. In this moment, you didn’t fear anything, you just did the job, taking out walker after walker, not giving a crap about the gooey blood and rotten flesh that covered more and more of your clothes and skin.

But everything stopped when you heard a high pitched scream behind you, a few yards away from your position. You turned around, the whole world slowed down. You saw your sister surrounded by another group of walkers. You heart skipped a beat and a load of adrenaline surged through your whole body. You started running to your sister, taking out more walkers on your way.

You didn’t even look at them, your look was fixed on your sister, so small and shaking with dread in the middle of the dead. Suddenly, this infernal race was stopped by something grabbing your ankle. You fell flat on the ground, your lungs struggling to take in air, your flesh burning with pain. Your knife slipped from your hand, clinking on the concrete.

You pushed the walker away, still looking at your baby sister who kept on screaming your name, begging you to save her. You saw a walker grab her, ready to bite into her flesh with its rotten teeth. Her eyes locked with yours one last time, you stared at those innocent, tear-filled eyes, thinking this was the end. But you didn’t want this to end, you couldn’t let her die. After everything you went though. After everything you did to keep her safe…

“No!” You shouted, tears flowing from your eyes, as a dark shadow moved swiftly through the crowd of walkers, grabbing the little girl and running away. Your ears were hit by the loud bang of gun shots and everything sped up again.

You grabbed your knife again, seized your gun and took out the walkers with your blade as more of them fell all around you, putrid blood oozing out of gaping holes in their rotten skull. Then followed long minutes of stabbing, shooting, cracking, hitting, slashing and spurting.

When it was over, you stood up, tucked away your knife and stumbled down the street, where your sister had stood only a few minutes earlier. She was nowhere to be seen and the herd was now a pile of lifeless rotten flesh. But then you spotted the large figure of a man holding your sister in his arms, kneeling on the concrete, gun still in hand. She was crying in his chest while he tried to comfort her.

You started running towards them, spotting two other men, each carrying a riffle, approaching the third one. You practically threw yourself on the ground, letting go of your gun that fell to the ground and grabbing your sister, holding her tight against your chest.

“Oh Baby, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” You whimpered. You felt guilty. Guilty for leaving her on her own, guilty for risking her life, guilty for putting her through that traumatic experience.

 “You okay?” The man asked. You looked up at him and nodded slowly, closing your eyes, unable to hold back your tears as all the adrenaline drained from your body, leaving only confusion, anxiety and dread behind. You suddenly broke down, clinging to the man shirt and pressing your face against his chest.

“Thank you.” You whispered with a weak voice as you felt his hand stroking your back comfortingly. You tightened your embrace around your sister’s small body, repeating those words in your head, trying to convince yourself. _It’s alright, it’s alright. Everything is fine._

You finally calmed down a few minutes later. The man let go of you but you kept your sister close to you. You looked at him as he stood up. He was rather tall, dressed in fairly clean clothes. He wore dark jeans and a grey shirt. The first thing you noticed on his face was his dark, well-groomed mustache.

“Do you have a camp? A group?” He asked, putting in gun back in its holster. You shook your head slowly, gently stroking your sister’s hair as she hid her face in the crook of your neck.

You were surprised when the man held out his hand. You took it and he helped you up. You let go of your sister so she could stand as well but still kept her close as she clung to your leg. The man shook your hand slightly.

“I’m Simon.” He said, introducing himself. “This is Joseph and Roy.” He added, letting go of your hand and pointing towards the two other men accompanying him. Both of them greeted you with a nod. You nodded as well before looking back at Simon.

“(Y/N). This is my sister.” You introduced yourself and your sister politely. You did not let your guard down, though. Even if these men just saved you and your sister’s life, you didn’t know what to expect from them. You seemed fairly inoffensive and they could plan on robbing you, or worse. So you had to be careful.

“I can bring you somewhere safe.” Simon said, running a hand through his well-combed hair, placing his other hand on his hip. You thought about his proposition for a second. He seemed harmless, nice, even. But you preferred playing safe. You retrieved your gun from the ground slowly, holding it in a non-threatening way, and grabbed your sister’s hand again.

“Thank you, for everything…” You said, looking at all three men. You meant it. “But I’m gonna have to decline.” You added, taking a step away from the small group, your sister following you closely but looking back at Simon over her shoulder.

“We have walls… fences, buildings, cars, beds… food.” You heard him state behind you. You stopped as he took a careful step towards you. You held your gun by the grip, ready to fire if anything happened. “Now I don’t want to force your hand but you know you’re not gonna survive alone out here.” He said, keeping his voice fairly down so that he wouldn’t draw any more walkers.

You thought it through again. You had survived a long time, going from town to town, finding food and shelter. But you wouldn’t be able to do that for much longer, you knew it. Hell, you even nearly got your sister and yourself killed just a few minutes ago.

“How long you’ve been alone for?” Simon asked. You turned around slowly, looking at him again. The two other men hadn’t moved, their weapon slung over their shoulder, as if waiting for the next order.

“About a month.” You replied, watching Simon’s every move, watching out for any threatening gesture.

“Do you think you can survive much longer?” He asked, scolding himself for sounding a little too blunt. You didn’t react to his tone of voice. You nodded confidently instead, even if you didn’t believe that. You saw him sigh softly, taking another careful step towards you. “We have a group, we have people. A _lot_ of people.” He said. “We have rules, we work, we grow our own food, we teach children…” He stated, looking at your sister upon saying the last words.

You swallowed. You didn’t entirely trust these men, of course. But there was something in his tone and his gestures that told you that he meant no harm to you, and that he was telling the truth. His proposition was tempting. If he was telling the truth, it meant that you could find a semblance of normalcy and some order in the chaos of today’s world. And that was very tempting.

That also meant you could be finally safe. Judging by his words, they seemed organized and prepared. If you could find a safe place to stay, a bed to rest and food to keep you standing, then why not? If you could finally find a place where your sister could be safe and could live an almost normal life, then sure.

“I want to keep my weapons until I can see that group and those walls of yours with my own eyes.” You demanded, tucking your gun back in your holster. Simon nodded, unable to suppress the small smile that bent the corner of his lips. That smile wasn’t sly, or creepy, it was a smile of content and relief. “I want my sister to stay by my side until I make sure we are safe.” You added. Simon nodded.

“Of course.” He said simply. You took a step towards him and the other men, looking at all three of them in the eyes.

“I’m not afraid of killing walkers, and I’m not afraid of killing people either, so no funny business.” You stated with confidence, believing in yourself this time. They all nodded. “Let’s go.” You then said, walking up to them. Simon smiled at you nicely before turning to the men.

“You heard the Lady, all aboard.” He said, gesturing for you to follow him to their truck. You walked carefully. The two men got in the driver and passenger seat and Simon climbed on the bed of the truck, holding out a hand to help you up. You helped your sister up and took his hand to get in the vehicle.

The engine roared to life and the truck started moving. The noise drew a few walkers but you were gone by the time they could reach you, making your way out of the small town. You didn’t know what awaited you where you were headed. You just hoped you made the right decision by following these men.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me if I should continue this.

You held you sister as you sat in the bed of the truck, driving to the men’s compound. Simon looked at you, smiling kindly. You had been on the road for about ten minutes, he told you their settlement was in an old factory, a few miles from the small town where you were scavenging earlier.

The whole time, you kept your sister close, stroking her hair from time to time to keep her calm. Simon hadn’t make any dubious move, nor did he threaten you in any way. You started to relax a little and believe that these men meant no harm to you or your sister. But you still didn’t let your guard down.

Simon’s face relaxed and his look drifted towards the small backpack you carried. You frowned, watching him with caution. He spotted the uneasiness in your look and smiled again.

“What do you keep in that bag?” He asked calmly. You swallowed, still staring at him.

“Our stuff…” You replied vaguely. He laughed softly, hanging his head before looking at you again.

“What did you find?” He then asked, referring to your scavenging session.

“Food, barely edible.” You said. As a matter of fact, considering the state of the tin cans you had found, you highly doubted that their content was edible. “I found some ammo, too.” You added, figuring there was no need to hide that from them. They could take them if they wanted. You had no use for shotgun ammo anyway as you only carried a handgun.

“We’re gonna have to take that when we arrive there. We keep the guns and ammo for security purpose, we can’t have everyone walking around with loaded guns. We gather the food, too so we can redistribute it to our people.” He explained. You nodded, even if you preferred keeping your weapons close, it seemed only fair. Same for the food.

Simon then smiled at your little sister. She nestled against you, clinging on the fabric of your shirt, looking at the man with worry-filled eyes. “What’s your name, Little Lady?” He asked kindly. Your sister’s grip tightened, she looked up at you. You nodded, giving her the go-ahead.

“Emily.” She mumbled, staring at the man before her.

“That’s a pretty name. How old are you, Emily?” Simon asked. You gave him a warning look, even if there was nothing threatening in his tone or look.

“Eight.” Your sister replied, hiding her face in your chest out of fear. You stroked her hair gently, still staring at the man.

* * *

Ten minutes later you finally arrived to a huge factory, consisting of several concrete buildings. The main building was large and high, topped with three chimneys, its solid concrete walls pierced by numerous, broad industrial windows.

The truck came to a stop. You heard some more growls coming from all around you. You immediately sat up, looking at your surroundings. You looked at Simon, he seemed calm.

“No worries, these ones are working for us.” He stated, referring to the walkers you heard. You decided to relax a bit, despite you confusion. What did he mean by ‘working for us?’

You quickly got your answer when the truck moved again. You heard the squeaking sound of metal against metal as the fence gate opened, allowing the truck within the compound.

As the vehicle passed the fence, you saw many walkers, chained to the wire mesh fence or to concrete blocks, struggling to get free from their restrains. They acted as a second protection against humans that would want to enter the compound without being invited. _Smart_. You thought.

Once safe behind the closed fence, Simon helped you and your sister down. She still clung to you, scared by this new place she didn’t know. You rubbed her back reassuringly, telling her everything was okay.

Simon led you to what seemed to be the entrance of the building, a door under yellow metal stairs. You entered the building through the metal door, holding your sister’s hand. It took a few seconds for your eyes to get used to the darkness of the interior.

You were now in a large hall. Simon didn’t lie to you, there was a lot of people, the area was buzzing with activity. Some people were sitting on makeshift beds in some sort of rooms separated by curtains made out of worn sheets. There were several large tables on which lay different things like canned food on one, bread on another, and clothes on yet another table.

They seemed really organized, like everything was stored in its place. People were waiting in line to get things from the tables, signing a log before going away. You were honestly amazed by this order, like observing bees working in a hive.

Simon led you to a table. He picked a few clothes and wrote down a number on the log. He then handed the pile of garments to you, you took it. “These are clean clothes if you need to change.” He said, you nodded. “I’m gonna have to take a look at that bag, now.” He added, nodding towards your backpack.

You were slightly reluctant, but he kept is words by letting you keep your weapons during the journey, so now you had to do the same. You took off your bag and handed it to him, as well as your weapons. He kept your gun and knife and went through your bag, taking out the cans and cartridges. He left the other stuff you had inside and gave it back to you with a grateful nod.

“I’m gonna show you where you can take a shower, then I’ll introduce you to the man.” He stated, gesturing for you to follow him. You slung you bag over your shoulder, tucked the pile of clothes under your arm and held your sister’s hand.

“Thanks.” You said softly. They didn’t have to save your life, back there. And they didn’t have to bring you to their compound. So you were truly grateful. But despite your confusion, you didn’t ask who was ‘the man’ and kept on walking.

You were brought to a shower room that you assumed was formerly used by the employees of the factory. You took a quick shower with your sister, rinsing off the walker blood and flesh from your skin and hair. The water was cold, but you were glad to be able to take that much-needed shower.

You and your sister then went into the changing room and quickly threw on the clean clothes you were provided. You put on the jeans and the light blue shirt, they were surprisingly fitting. You helped your sister in her garments.

You were tying her shoe laces when someone knocked on the door of the room. “Are you decent?” A familiar voice asked politely from the other side of the door.

“Yes.” You replied simply, standing up and turning towards the door. Simon entered the room and you smiled politely. “Thank you so much.” You said again, the man nodded in response.

“Let’s go.” He said as you grabbed you bag again, following him back into the hall. “Your sister will have to stay here while you meet him.” He stated, looking at you over his shoulder. You tensed at his words.

First, there was no way you left your sister alone here. And second, who the hell was ‘him?’

Simon felt your discomfort and stopped walking to face you. “She will be safe here, I promise. Lydia is gonna look after her.” He said, pointing to a fairly young woman who was sitting on a bed, a few feet from you, smiling sweetly at you. You look went back and forth between the seemingly nice woman and the man standing in front of you.

You swallowed and made a decision. You had better play by the rules for now. You nodded in agreement and immediately felt you sister squeeze your hand. You kneeled down to look at her in the eyes, lightly stroking her cheek.

“You’re gonna be a good girl and stay here, okay? I’ll be back very soon.” You said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Take that with you.” You added, handing her the bag. She then threw herself in your arms, wrapping her tiny arms around your neck. You held her close, gently squeezing her small body. “Everything will be fine, Baby, I promise. I’ll be back before you know it.” You stated as you pulled away, swallowing the lump in your throat.

You stood up as she made her way to the woman, clutching the bag in her tiny hands and looking back at you one last time. You turned to Simon again, putting your stern face back on and looking at him in the eyes. “If anything happens to her, I’m tearing ‘the man’ a new one. Do I make myself clear?” You snarled, looking at him with threatening eyes.

“Crystal.” He replied, unable to suppress and small laugh. You had a lot of nerve.

“Let’s go.” You then said, following Simon back outside.

There, you were joined by the two men who accompanied Simon earlier. You didn’t stop and they followed the two of you, walking by your sides. You were walking behind Simon in silence, observing your surroundings.

You were in a sort of open area, surrounded by buildings made with concrete and metal. You were walking on gravel. All you could hear were the voices of a few people talking quietly, the steady rhythm of boots crushing the gravel and the distant growling of walkers.

You kept on walking, the buildings seemed to be less and less far apart. You spotted what looked like a greenhouse ahead of you. You passed by the thing, the green plants you saw through the pale plastic confirming your hypothesis, and ended up in a more enclosed area. The high metal sheet walls of two separate buildings stood on either side of the area. Two huge planters made out of scrap metal were placed along each wall, you also spotted a henhouse on your left. The planters contained all sorts of plants, lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables.

The three men you were walking with then stopped all of sudden. You nearly bumped into Simon but stopped in time, looking around you again to see a few people getting up from a kneeling position. You frowned as Simon started talking.

“We found her in town, scavenging for supplies, we got her out of a critical situation. Figured we would bring her here so you could decide what to do with her.” He said to his interlocutor, which you couldn’t see as Simon stood in front of you. But your heart sped up when he stepped aside, allowing you to take a look at the tall man that was standing in front of him.

The first thing you saw was the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire that rested on the shoulder of this man. He was clad in a black leather jacket, a vibrant red scarf was wrapped around his neck. Your look dropped to his legs and quickly went back up.

You saw the man’s face light up when his eyes fell upon you, licking his bottom lip and grinning widely, revealing familiar white teeth and cute dimples under a light salt and pepper beard.

You felt like your heart stopped beating for a second, your lungs frantically trying to take in air. You just stood there, staring at the man because at this very moment, you didn’t know what to say. Only one word popped into your mind.

“Coach?”


	3. Chapter 3

_Virginia, three years ago._

The cafeteria of Fairfax High School was crowded at this time of the day. It was a little before the beginning of your first class. You were hanging out with two of your friends, like almost every day. Kate, Riley and you were in the same math class and gym class.

You were settled at a table situated in a corner of the hall. Riley was sitting beside you and Kate sat across from her. They were chatting about random things while you sat curled up on your chair, with your back against the wall, while writing a few things in your notebook.

You were so taken in the drafting of your next story that you were completely oblivious to the world around you. “Come on, that wasn’t _that_ hard…” Kate said to Riley, certainly talking about the last math test you took, a few days ago.

“It wasn’t for you, but for me…” Riley trailed off, nodding dramatically. “What do you think, (Y/N)?” She then asked, turning to you. You didn’t look up from your notebook.

“Sure…” You mumbled under your breath, too focused on your creating process to actually answer her question. She rolled her eyes and turned to Kate again.

“Anyway, I’m not here for math class today, if you know what I mean…”

“I sure do…” Kate replied with a smirk.

Once again, you weren’t paying attention to them and continued working on the plot of your story. Maybe you could make that character deeper, maybe show more of his emotions, and you would probably have to come up with a backstory, too. What about this one? Maybe make him younger, like two years, yeah that could work…

When finally you felt satisfied enough with your work, you looked up. Wrong move, though, as your eyes met Kate’s right after she said the name. “…Negan.”

“And that’s what it took for her to look up!” Riley said, laughing slightly and looking at Kate again. “Told you, our little (Y/N) has the hots for our coach…” She added, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Shut up.” You sighed, slightly annoyed. Yes, you often found yourself looking at your gym teacher the way you shouldn’t. But who wouldn’t when he was so good looking? You couldn’t help grinning a little, still amused by your friend’s teasing.

“I can’t blame you, girl, I mean did you see him…?” Riley said to Kate.

“Gorgeous. So tall, muscular, and so charming…” She replied, closing her eyes to picture the man in her head.

“And his smile, good Lord, those dimples…” Riley added.

“And his tongue, when he flicks it like this…”

“And his voice, all gruff and husky…”

“But you forget something.” You stopped their daydreaming right when the bell rang, letting the students know that the first class was about to begin.

“What?” Kate asked, opening her eyes again as you stood up from you seat, slightly leaning towards your friends.

“He’s our _teacher_.” You stated matter-of-factly.

“Damn, ruining all the fun…” Riley said, standing up reluctantly. The three of you exited the cafeteria, heading to your first class.

“Not to mention that he’s probably married…” You added, looking at both of your friends.

“I didn’t see any ring on his finger…” Kate stated, giving you a knowing look.

“Whatever…” You retorted, walking a little faster. You clutched your books, trying not to seem too eager, because you were. Only one hour left before your gym class…

* * *

The hour passed by faster than you had anticipated. Your teacher gave you your test back. You got an ‘A’, like always. After that you went to change in the locker room and entered the gym with Kate and Riley. You were supposed to play volleyball and practice different skills in small groups. But after a few minutes, as your teacher wasn’t looking, you and your friends decided that you had enough and sat down on the bleachers.

Negan was busy telling off other students so no, he wasn’t looking at the three of you. But yes, the three of you were definitely looking at him. Your eyes followed his every movements as he looked around a bit before another student caught his attention.

Your eyes followed him intently as he made his way towards the student. The girl was practicing the bump. The only times you saw this girl were in gym class. You somehow never met her in the corridors or the cafeteria. But everyone knew about her.

Ashley Hamilton was the most popular girl in the whole school. But she was also known to have dated a lot of guys. You had to admit she was particularly good looking, and she made a point of wearing clothes that brought out her feminine attributes.

You couldn’t judge her for that. She could do whatever she wanted with what nature gave her, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. But it bothered you a little bit more when she used this on certain people, like your coach, for example…

“Look at her, wiggling her ass like a minx…” Kate said, staring at Ashley who was giggling while Negan stood behind her with his arms holding hers, guiding her in her movements. “‘Coach Negan, I can’t seem to find the right position…’” Kate said with a high pitched voice, mockingly mimicking the girl. You honestly found Kate’s words a little harsh, but she made you chuckle softly.

“Look at this smile, girl, he’s enjoying it.” Riley added, mentioning Negan’s grin. “He must have a hell of a hard-on hidden in his pants…” She then stated, shaking her head slowly and still staring at the man.

You stared at him as well, suddenly finding yourself picturing what was under these black sweatpants. You turned your head slightly and closed your eyes briefly, trying to get that image out of your mind.

“I wish they were tighter…” Kate’s voice brought you back to reality. Her chin rested on her hand as she beheld the sight before her.

“You perverts.” You said teasingly to both of your friends. Riley turned to you, pretending to be offended. Kate straightened up and turned around, pointing at you.

“Don’t act like you don’t think the same way, (Y/N). You’re a creep too.” She said, nodding dramatically.

“I see what you write sometimes, girl, you’re as twisted as we are.” Riley added, arguing with Kate.

You let out an embarrassed laugh, looking down as your cheeks turned slightly red. Yes, sometimes they read your stories. And more often than not, you wished they didn’t. Because, oh yes, you wrote _things_ in these stories…

“Stop fucking around, Ladies, and get your tight asses over here!” Negan’s booming voice brought you back to reality. Your heart skipped a beat as a shiver of fear ran down your spine. “Come the fuck on!” He yelled again, gesturing you to come on the field. You and your friends immediately obeyed. You quickly stood up from the stands as you heard Riley speak behind you.

“Yes, Daddy…”She muttered quietly so that she could only be heard by you and Kate. You rolled your eyes, running towards the field with a smile at the corner of your lips.

* * *

After being told off by your teacher, you and your friends decided to behave. You tried to make passes as best as you could as the three of you practiced with the ball. Unfortunately, all three of you absolutely sucked at volleyball. And your major weakness was underhand serve.

So you decided to work on that as Riley and Kate stood on the other side of the net, waiting for you to throw the ball. You tried to get in the right position and hit the ball powerfully, sending it flying across the gym, but not in the right direction.

Your friends burst into laughter as it landed a couple of yards away on your left. You shrugged, bending down to grab another ball that laid on the ground next to you. You got into position again, preparing yourself and trying to figure out how you could do this without knocking someone out.

“You’re not doing it right.” You suddenly froze when you heard a deep voice coming from behind you. You quickly turned your head only to see Negan standing close behind you, really close. He smirked slightly when he saw your eyes widen. “Come on, don’t be fucking scared of me, Doll. I don’t bite…” He said with a chuckle, taking a step forward to close the distance between you even more and leaning in to whisper in your ear. “Unless you ask real nice…”

You stood still in front of him, staring blankly at him as he gave you a cocky smile. You thought you were going to melt right away when he spoke to you. His deep voice echoed in your ears as you were trying to take in his words. You clutched the ball in your hands, not knowing what to do.

Fortunately, or not, he made the next move and snapped you out of your dumbfounded state, almost. You tried to listen to him as he talked to you about how to position yourself to serve correctly. But all you could focus on was the feeling of his hands as he placed them pretty much everywhere on your body, successively on your hands, arms, shoulders and waist, to illustrate his explanations.

“You gotta move your shoulders, not your hips, see?” You heard him say, his voice seemed to be so far away at this point. All you could think of was his body pressed up against yours and his hands moving to rest on your hips, firmly gipping them to keep you still. You felt his fingertips push into your flesh gently as you tried to execute the move. “You didn’t listen to a damn thing I said, now did you, (Y/L/N)?” His voice finally brought you back to reality as you felt his hands move away from you, suddenly missing the warmth they provided earlier. You stopped in your tracks and turned to him.

“No- yes, Sir. I- I did…dn’t?” You stammered, not even sure of what he actually asked you. You stared at him again as he leaned back and raised an eyebrow, looking at you intently as he tried to suppress a grin.

“Fucking daydreaming again, aren’t you, Doll?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Sorry…” You said, looking down at the ball you held in your hand, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You suddenly felt him lean forward, getting dangerously close to you again as he spoke into your ear with a low, but stern voice.

“I fucking hate repeating myself, and you know it damn well, (Y/L/N). But I’m gonna explain that to you again anyway, and you better fucking listen _real_ good this time.” He said, looking at you straight in the eyes as he emphasized his words, frowning slightly. You swallowed nervously, gripping the ball with both hands in an attempt to keep your composure as you stared right back at him.

“Yes, Sir.” You muttered with a nod. This time, he genuinely grinned before coming to stand behind you again, even closer than before. You could basically feel everything, well… down there. Your struggle to keep a straight face was real as he put his hands back on either side of your body, only this time a bit lower on your hips and much closer to your crotch, his fingertips practically touching the critical zone.

But this time, you were kept from daydreaming as you saw the looks your friends gave you from across the field. These looks told you that they had just witnessed the whole scene. And they reminded you that you really had to stop mistaking your fantasies for reality. Because nothing good could come from that.


	4. Chapter 4

_You just stood there, staring at the man because at this very moment, you didn’t know what to say. Only one word popped into your mind._

_“Coach?”_

* * *

“Ho-ly crap!” His booming voice echoed in the enclosed area. You stood still, staring at him as he stared right back, looking at you up and down and holding his bat down. “(Y/L/N)… (Y/N) fucking (Y/L/N)!” he exclaimed as if he couldn’t believe you were here.

The way he called you by your last name was somehow comforting. You were so used to hearing his voice say it. And suddenly memories started flooding your mind, your heart started beating faster, your eyes teared up and a soothing feeling of safety overwhelmed you. It was like coming back home.

He slowly approached you, his gaze never leaving yours, his heavy steps crushing the gravel under his boots. He stopped mere inches from you. You had to raise your head a little to be able to look at him in the eyes. His grin widened and he tried to suppress it, pursing his lips slightly and sucking his teeth. “What a good fucking surprise…” He said with a deep, hoarse voice.

You didn’t stop staring at him, analyzing every feature of his face, wondering whether he was genuinely real when a sudden doubt creeped its way into your mind. He _was_ real, you couldn’t quite believe your eyes, but he was. “Negan…” You sighed softly, giving him a sweet, relieved smile.

“The one and only…” he stated, extending his arms and leaning back slightly, his bat jiggling a bit as he held it horizontally in his right hand.

You laughed slightly at the dramatic pose and looked down to the ground, unable to control yourself as tears started to flow. He sighed ever so quietly and grabbed your upper-arm with his left hand. His grip was gentle and you started taking control of your emotions again. You looked up at your coach as he made you turn around.

“Let’s make up for lost time…” he said, letting go of your arm to rest his left hand flat between your shoulder blades, leading you towards where you had come from. Once again, his touch was soothing and you found yourself wishing his hand would never leave your body again.

As both of you made your way towards the entrance of the hall, you looked back over your shoulder and noticed none of his men followed you and actually, you were grateful. Their presence made you uneasy. You looked ahead again and remained silent.

“So I heard you were scavenging with your sister when Simon and the guys found you…” he said, looking down at you. You nodded but didn’t look at him. “Not gonna lie, (Y/L/N), I didn’t think you could have survived that fucking long. Especially with your sister to take care of…” he confessed, looking up again as you approached the entrance. You huffed, wrapping your arms around yourself.

“Me neither, actually…” Your voice was quiet, almost a whisper. You were not even sure your coach heard you.

When you finally made it to the entrance, Negan opened the door for you and you stepped inside, immediately looking around in search for your sister. When you spotted her, sitting on a bed next to Lydia, just where you had left her, you started rushing towards her. Negan followed you, laying his bat down a few feet away from you and walked up to you.

Disturbed by the agitation, your sister looked up from the book she was reading and her eyes widened as she saw you and immediately closed the book, leaving it on the bed to stand up and hug you tight.

“I told you I’d be quick, Baby,” you said. You noticed Lydia walking away from the corner of your eye and looked over at Negan.

His lips were ever so slightly curved into a smirk and you looked at him intently, parting from your sister but still holding her hand. You saw her bring her hand to her face, as if trying to cover her eyes as Negan slowly made his way towards her.

He crouched to be at your sister’s eye level, resting his forearms on his thighs for support, and gave her a smile. Your sister let go of your hand to wrap her arms around your leg, squeezing it. You stroked her hair gently in a soothing gesture. She didn’t have to worry, she knew the man that stood before her.

You looked at your coach again. He was staring in awe at your sister, his eyes moving rapidly as he tried to take in every feature of her face all at once. His look softened with every second he spent contemplating her innocent eyes.

“Look. At. This. Little angel…” he said, wrinkling his nose slightly as his smile widened.

Your sister stood completely still, staring at the man in front of her. She didn’t remember knowing him or seeing him before and she was scared. He looked like a complete stranger but while looking at his face, her memory started coming together.

She knew this toothy grin and these playful hazel eyes. She didn’t recognize the beard, though. But it wasn’t hard to notice the dimples under the light salt and pepper scruff, she knew these dimples.

Her eyes widened again as it dawned on her. You looked down at her, smiling. She let go of your leg and took a few hesitant steps towards Negan. He held out his arms and she jumped on him, making him jolt back slightly as she wrapped her tiny little arms around his neck.

He embraced her small body with his arms, pulling her into a warm, comforting hug. After a few seconds, Negan stood up, grunting with the effort and tightening his embrace slightly.

“Hello there, Sweetheart…” he greeted with a soft, quiet tone. You sighed in relief at the sight before you and soon, you were holding your sister’s hand again as Negan helped her back onto the ground.

“Let’s go somewhere quieter,” Negan said, pointing towards your bag and the familiar looking cover lying on the bed. You nodded as he turned around to grab his baseball bat and packed away the book, slinging your bag over your shoulder and taking your sister’s hand again.

Negan started walking towards an unknown direction and you followed him once again, breathing in calmly as he took you and your sister out of the unsettling agitation of the hall.


End file.
